Track Champions Determined on JP Mechanical Night
By Gene Harmelink

                Warm temperatures and a setting sun lent itself to excellent track conditions which saw plenty of side-by-side racing action in which track champions were determined at Eagle Valley Speedway on JP Mechanical night. 

                Mike Anderson, despite failing to finish the night’s feature, earned the WISSOTA Modified title by just one point over Jay Richardson.  All Mark Stender had to do was to start the WISSOTA Super Stock feature to claim the top spot over his nearest contender, Paul Erikson.

                WISSOTA Midwest Modified champ, Mike Koehler, used a borrowed transmission to finish well enough in the feature to win that division title over Jesse Glenz by a scant three points.  The WISSOTA Street Stock champion had the title in hand prior to the night’s racing and that meant Danny Richards is now the track champion in that division with Jason Lang taking second.

                In the Eagle Valley divisions, George Richards gets the honors over his nearest challenger, Nick Wojcik, and Dustin LaBlonde takes the championship in the Hornet division over Mark Ryskoski.

                In Sunday night action, the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were first up for the night with Cory Jackson and Aaron Dunbar on the front row.  Jackson was the early leader with Ronnie Rihn coming from third to run second.

                Five laps into the fifteen lap feature, Jackson continued to lead as Ivan Simmerman passed Rihn for second and Bob Wood moved up to fourth after starting sixth.  Meanwhile, Jake Smith ran fifth after starting eighth.

                At the end of lap ten, Jackson was still in the lead with a car that was beginning to show smoke and an occasional flare up of a flash fire due to a missing transmission dipstick.  With Jackson’s car in trouble, Simmerman took the lead at the end of lap eleven and Rihn moved up to second.

                By race end, Simmerman had extended the lead for the win.  Rihn finished second, Smith moved up to third, Jackson hung in there for fourth, and Brad Hudson made a last minute dash to finish fifth after starting eleventh.

                The win was Simmerman’s second of the year in his Tim’s Automotive-sponsored car.

                Rick Hallquist and Chad Johnson led the way for the start of the WISSOTA Super Stock feature with Johnson grabbing the early lead.  After surviving three successive restarts due to cautions, Johnson once again was in the lead, leading until the end of lap four.

                By the end of lap five, Shane Kisling, after making a pass on Johnson in turn three, took the lead with Johnson dropping to second.  Meanwhile, Paul Erikson, who had come from sixth, and Jeff Brauer, who had come from eighth, battled for third.

                As Kissling left the rest of the field in his dust, Erikson, Brauer, and Wayne Dean were having a spirited battle for third as Johnson continued to run second.  By lap thirteen, Dean pulled off the track with mechanical issues, Kissling continued to pull away, Johnson still ran second and Eric Olson joined in the fun as the battle raged for third.

                With four to go Kisling had waved goodbye to the rest as Johnson, Erikson, and Brauer ran door-to-door at times for second.

                By race end, it was Kisling getting his twelfth win of the year and his third of the weekend in his L and L Excavating-sponsored car.  Johnson, Erikson, Brauer, and Olson rounded out the top five.

                Dan Hesch and Keith Tourville set the pace for the WISSOTA Modifieds as they began their race with Hesch showing excellent power, from the start, to take the lead.  Hesch survived two successive cautions one of which sent Kevin Rogers’car hard into the turn one wall.  Rogers was okay, but his car was not and was towed off the track.

                With Hesch still in the lead by the end of lap five, Keith Tourville hung on to second, Luke Schilling ran third, Eric Pember ran fourth, and Clayton Wagamon ran fifth after starting ninth.

                By lap ten Hesch had widened his lead as Tourville, Kevin Adams, and Wagamon fought tooth and nail for second.

                Lap fifteen saw Hesch still in the lead and running low on the track as Tourville, Adams, and Wagamon ran high in an effort to catch him.  David Baxter had come from eleventh, by this time, to run fifth.

                Race end saw Hesch taking his second win of the year at Eagle Valley Speedway.  Finishing behind Hesch in a tight bunch were:  Tourville, Adams, Wagamon, and Baxter.

                In WISSOTA Street Stock action, Travis Hazelton and Jason Lang led the field to the flag stand for the start of their feature with Hazelton surging to an early lead.  By the end of lap two, Hazelton still had the lead but a cluster of three cars, running side-by-side, made up of Zach Manley, Cody Kummer, and Mike Knudtson were on the charge.

                By the end of lap four, Manley had broken away for the lead dropping Hazelton to second.  Following closing behind and running three wide were Dan Bork, Knudtson, and Jay Kesan who had come from eighth.

                Lap ten saw Manley pulling away from the field as Bork, Hazelton, Kesan, and Danny Richards battled for second.

                With two laps to go, Kummer spun coming out of turn one and the field was realigned for a green, white, and checkered.  Would anyone have anything left for Manley?

                The answer was “no” as Manley turned on the after-burner for the win with Bork, Kesan, Hazelton, and Richards still giving chase.

                The win marked Manley’s eleventh of the year, his third in a row, and his sixth at Eagle Valley Speedway in his Ace Radiator-sponsored car.

                The Eagle Valley Pure Stocks were up next with Clay Potaczek and Brandon Lofgren showing the way.  Potaczek was the early leader leading until the end of lap five when there was a caution for Mike Schuebel spinning in turn four resulting in Dalton Hazelton being sent to the back.

                When racing resumed Nick Wojcik, who had been running second, saw his chance and went for the lead dropping Potaczek to third as George Richards moved into second.

                Richards got right up on Wojcik’s rear bumper several times during the remainder of the feature, but Wojcik prevailed to take the win.  It was Wojcik’s thirteen win of the season and his second for the weekend in his Centurytel-sponsored car.  Richards, Rod Ryba, Jay Folz, and Brandon Lofgren made up the remainder of the top five.

                Brad Garner and Scott Westaby were on the front row for the start of the Hornet feature with Rocky Kempe taking the lead by the end of lap one.  Kempe’s claim to fame didn’t last long as he was passed by Dustin LaBlonde by the end of lap two.

                With LaBlonde in the lead and pulling away, the race for second became the one to watch as Mark Ryskoski, Kempe, and Jay Welk vied for second.

                LaBlonde proved to be too strong for the rest of the field and by race end had earned his sixth win of the season in his Todd’s Crankshaft-sponsored car.  Ryskoski, Will Fisher, Welk, and Duke Leu rounded out the top five.

                Racing resumes on Sunday, August 29, when Leinenkugels and River Country Coop present the 2010 season championship races with all the regular classes once again in action.  Pits open at 4:00 with cut off at 5:30.  Hot laps are run at 5:30 with racing at 6:00.  Only two events remain on the Eagle Valley race calendar, so if you haven’t yet made a trip to Eagle Valley this year, isn’t it time to do so?

                Keep Sunday, September 5, and Saturday, September 11, open on your calendar.  The fifth is the Lonnie Leu Memorial and the eleventh is the second Eagle Valley Enduro.

                For further information go to:  http://www.eaglevalleyspeedway.net or call 715-499-0736 or 715-613-6428.

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SUMMARY

Eagle Valley Speedway

Jim Falls, WI

August 22, 2010

WISSOTA Modifieds

20-Lap Feature:  Dan Hesch, Keith Tourville, Kevin Adams, Clayton Wagamon, David Baxter, Eric Pember, Jay Richardson, Luke Schilling, Patrick Hoffman, Mark Blood, Brandon Kallenbach, Jared Loos, Bryan Nayes, John Hazelton, Kevin Rogers, Mike Anderson, Les Duellman

Heat 1:  Richardson, Schilling, Anderson, Loos, Duellman, Jason Swan, Steve Hallquist

Heat 2:  Wagamon, Pember, Hesch, Baxter, Hoffman, Rogers

Heat 3:  Tourville, Adams, Nayes, Kallenbach, Hazelton, Blood

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20-Lap Feature:  Shane Kisling, Chad Johnson, Paul Erikson, Jeff Brauer, Eric Olson, Mark Stender, Darrel Hazelton, Lance Schilling, Chad Tarvis, Paul Clark, Wayne Dean, Jason Quarders, Rick Hallquist

Heat 1:  Erikson, Brauer, Hallquist, Schilling, Quarders, Clark

Heat 2:  Kisling, Stender, Johnson, Olson, Dean, Tarvis

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15-Lap Feature:  Ivan Simmerman, Ronnie Rihn, Jake Smith, Cory Jackson, Brad Hudson, Bob Wood, Cory Crapser, Travis Anderson, Jesse Glenz, Matt Leer, Nick Koehler, Chad Manor, Aaron Dunbar, Chad Kallenbach, Grant Southworth

Heat 1:  Crapser, Wood, Smith, Simmerman, Hudson, Anderson, Koehler, Manor

Heat 2:  Glenz, Jackson, Rihn, Dunbar, Leer, Kallenbach, Southworth

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15-Lap Feature:  Zach Manley, Dan Bork, Jay Kesan, Travis Hazelton, Danny Richards, Mike Knudtson, Jason Lang, Cody Kummer, Carolyn Nosser, Tom Grasley, Tommy Richards

Heat 1:  Kesan, Bork, Knudtson, D Richards, Nosser, T Richards

Heat 2:  Manley, Hazelton, Kummer, Lang, Grasley

Eagle Valley Pure Stocks

12-Lap Feature:  Nick Wojcik, George Richards, Rod Ryba, Jay Folz, Brandon Lofgren, Pat Smith, Dalton Hazelton, Tyler English, Jason Stevens, Lucas Kallenbach, Clay Potaczek, Mike Schuebel

Heat 1:  Richards, Schuebel, Folz, Lofgren, English, Stevens

Heat 2:  Wojcik, Ryba, Potaczek, Smith, Hazelton, Kallenbach

Eagle Valley Hornets

12-Lap Feature:  Dustin LaBlonde, Mark Ryskoski, Will Fisher, Jay Welk, Duke Leu, Rocky Kempe, Josh Fransway, Bob LaBlonde, Brad Garner, Chance Ciolkosc, Scott Westaby, Cori Block

Heat 1:  D LaBlonde, Westaby, Block, Garner, Ciolkosc, John Wigckers, Bo Verbick

Heat 2:  Welk, Ryskoski, Kempe, Leu, Fransway, Fisher, LaBlonde